Foreign Options on Next Permanent England Manager Betting

Foreign stock rising after Redknapp statements

17th February 2012 / Lee A Jackson

The fall out of Fabio Capello’s departure from his post, leaving us with Next England Manager betting has taken a new twist, with favourite Harry Redknapp publicly stating that it would be unfair for him to leave Tottenham at the moment, and that he hasn’t even been approached. There are different ways to read into his comments though. The Tottenham boss seems the public’s choice to take over the national side, but Redknapp has enjoyed a tremendous season at Spurs, building a title challenging side and he seems pretty happy at White Hart Lane. He has dismissed, as most people have, the possibility of working part time, splitting his duties between England and Tottenham, as that simply isn’t practical. Redknapp said that it could be a short term solution, even having someone come in and take over the running just for the summer while England are at Euro 2012. So Harry Redknapp could possibly be the next England manager, but would he be the Next Permanent England manager? That seems a longer shot. He could well be in charge at Euro 2012, but would he then go back and fulfil his duties with Spurs for the new Premier League season? Has Redknapp counted himself out of the running? If so, where does that leave Next Permanent England manager betting? Interim coach Stuart Pearce, most likely, but with no real word on who the FA are actually interested in, could they spring another surprise and actually draft in some top foreign talent. Some forward thinking, successful manager?
There are two names in the running when you think of foreign managers in the field for Next Permanent England Manager betting. The first one is Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola. The bookies have started to sit up and take notice of Guardiola, whose odds have been slashed from long shot to third favourite. Barcelona lost in La Liga on the weekend, suffering a bit of embarrassment away at Osasuna. That has left their title challenge in tatters, sitting ten points back of Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid. So it looks as if they won’t successfully be defending their Spanish title there. The Champions League looks like more of a priority right now to them, and that are comfortably one step closer to the quarter finals after a 3-1 away win away against Bayer Leverkusen. So if the Spanish League title is gone, and they can’t defend their Champions League title, will this be the time for Guardiola to walk away? Surely the FA would have to jump at the chance to secure him, because what England fan doesn’t want to see their side play the way that the Catalans do?

There is another name which is also in the running, and that is former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinhno. The Special One is reportedly going to leave Real Madrid, despite dominating the Spanish domestic scene and chasing Champions League glory. Let’s assume that Mourinho wins at least the league title, a big coup over the power of Barcelona, would he be tempted into a new challenge? It’s hard to see Mourinho backing down from any new test, and they really don’t come much bigger or tougher to handle than the England job. Apparently Mourinho does want to get back to management in England, but would it be with England’s top job? He’s not totally out of the running, with bookies having him priced at anywhere between 12/1 and 25/1. One final name which should court some pretty good interest is that of Guus Hiddink. Hiddink is a much respected man and is wanted by a lot of clubs at the moment. PSV, where he made such a big name for himself want him back. Chelsea fans want the affable boss to come back and rescue them from their doldrums, and one of Europe’s rising forces Anzhi Makhachkala also want Hiddink’s services. At least Hiddink has international management experience, having coach the Netherlands, South Korea, Australia, Russia and most recently, Turkey. He’s also out of work right now, after failing to get Turkey to Euro 2012.